Dishware construction



June 22, 1965 w, RECH 3,190,486

DISHWARE CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 15, 1959 Fig. 2

INVENTOR. WILLIAM J. RECH BY My M44 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,199,486 DESHWARE QQI' lSTREUQTiEBN William .H. Reich, Neshannoch Township, Lawrence County, Pa, assignors to Shenango tChina, 1112., New (Jastle, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Get. 15, 1959, Ser. No. 846,571 1 Claim. (El. nth-7h) This invention relates to platters, elongated vegetable bowls or dishes, olive dishes, and similar oval-shaped dishware having a central portion or well surrounded by a circumferential, upwardly sloping rim, and a supporting ridge or foot formed about the underside of the central portion. In particular, the invention relates to dishware of the type described which is manufactured from ceramic materials by conventional processes involving bisque and and glost firing.

Elongated, oval-shaped dishware is customarily fired, as is round ware, upside down in the bisque kiln with the rim and central portion supported either by a bed of flint sand carried on a refractory slab or by a refractory support known as a crank. The purpose of firing the ware upside down while supporting the central portion is to maintain a straight rim and at the same time to prevent the central portion from dropping.

While the firing procedure described above does maintain a relatively straight rim, the foot of the ware frequently becomes distorted. The distortion of the foot may result from various single or cumulative causes. Either the sand may shift on the slab, or the slab or crank may warp during firing. Also, the ware itself, particularly at the ends of the oval foot, may grow, twist, or shrink unevenly during firing, possibly due to the creation or relieving of internal stresses as the ceramic bond develops in the clay body, or simply to the non-uniform distribution of the mass of clay about a central point. The latter phenomenon may occur not only in the bisque firing of the ware, but in the glost firing as well.

Generally, the warping of the foot is not sufficiently aggravated and discernible as to cause the ware to be rejected. However, measures must be taken to correct the distortion since even a very slightly warped foot will cause the ware to rock when placed on a smooth, hard surface, such as a table top. Heretofore, the only solution has been to grind the foot flat, or at least to remove the major high spots after firing and glazing. This procedure adds to the cost of manufacture because of the time involved in grinding the extremely hard, vitrified ware and the relatively complex machinery which is required. Further the ground unglazed surface of the foot tends to mar the surface of a lower platter in a stack of ware, as well as sometimes scratching the surface of a table.

T he present invention solves the problem of foot distortion by providing a unique foot construction in which the ends of the oval foot are relieved before bisque firing and while the clay is in the green state. Even though other portions of the foot may still warp, the construction is such that a firm support will still be obtained without the necessity of grinding after firing and glazing.

Thus, the primary object of the invention is to provide a non-rockable platter or similar ware. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a novel foot construction for elongated, oval-shaped Ware which will provide a firm support for the Ware without the necessity of grinding the foot after firing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a foot construction for dishware which permits air to circulate beneath the central portion within the area encompassed by the foot, the circulation serving to lessen condensaddiidfifi Patented dune 22, l

tion on and under the foot of such dishware as well as minimizing the marring of table surfaces.

Other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will become readily apparent as the same becomes better understood when considered in reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view taken along the longitudinal center line of a platter embodying my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the platter, showing the bottom and foot construction.

Referring in detail to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown a platter having a main central portion or well ill surrounded by a conventional annular rim 11. The bottom of the central portion in is shaped to provide a conventional foot 12. If the ware is formed by conventional jiggering, pressing, or casting processes, initially the foot 12 will be a continuous ridge surrounding the underside of the central portion 10.

As previously stated, the construction of a paltter or the like made according to this invention is such that it will normally provide a firm, non-rocldng support for the platter without the necessity of subjecting the support to an expensive grinding operation. To this end, the ends of the conventionally oval-shaped foot 12 are relieved before the ware is subjected to the initial bisque fire. If the ware is formed by the conventional processes mentioned above, the continuous, elliptical foot 12 is usually and most simply relieved by cutting away or pressing down the ends of the foot 12 while the green Ware is in the soft or moist plastic state. This takes but a moment of the operators time and provides depressions 13 (when viewing the piece with the normal underside uppermost). The extent of the depressions 13 in the foot ridge 12 may vary according to size and elongation of the ridge 12 as the skill of the art dictates. As indicated in FIG. 2, each depression 13 is preferably located symmetrically about the longitudinal axis or center line of the piece and preferably slopes rather gradually toward the original surface of the foot 12, the longitudinally opposed depressions 13 dividing the portion of the foot 12 which is adapted to contact a planar surface, such as a table top, into two spaced and symmetrically opposed arcuate bearing surfaces or rib feet 14. Although the extent of the non-bearing, relieved portions 13 of the foot may vary, the length of a non-bearing depression 13 should be substantially less than the length of a bearing portion 14, as indicated in FIG. 2 by the projected length A of a depression 13 and, in FIG. 1, by the projected length B of a bearing portion 14.

Instead of cutting or pressing down the depression 13 while the clay is in a soft, plastic state, the depressions may be formed by cutting, rubbing, or breaking away portions of the foot after drying and while the green ware is in the leather-hard state, the depressions 13 thus formed being smoothed by sponging during the fettling operations preparatory to firing. Formation of the depressions at this stage before firing may require slightly more time and care than formation while the ware is still plastic, but eliminates the performance of the operation on ware which may develop drying cracks and, thus, must be discarded. Alternatively, if the ware is formed by casting or pressing, the mold grooves normally forming the foot may be filled in at the location of the depressions to shape the same in the course of forming the ware. Either of these latter two alternative procedures for forming the depressions 13 are indicated when the ware is formed by dry-pressing.

The geometry afforded by this construction is such that the platter will rest solidly on opposed arcuate surfaces of the rib feet 14 if no warping occurs, or if the ware warps only at the end portions encompassed within or beyond the area subtended by the arc of each depression 13. In the event either or both of the bearing surfaces or rib feet 14- are warped during a fire, it has been discovered that in almost all instances the ware still has a stable bearing support consisting either of (a) an arcuate line support provided by one bearing portion 14 and a lurality of spaced bearing areas on the opposite portion 14 which lie in the same plane as the arcuate foot portion, or (b), as a practical minimum, two pairs of spaced contact areas all lying in the same plane with each contact area of a foot portion 14 being adjacent a depression 13.

It will be observed that at least four-point surface contact is necessary to stabilize the oval-shaped platter since the geometry is such that any three-point support would define a triangle having two small an area with respect to the well area to provide proper stability in use. That is, while a three-point support consisting of two points on one side of the center line of the piece of ware and one point on the other side of the piece of Ware will allow the platter to rest in a fixed position, there will be a substantial outboard area, so to speak, of the well which is not included within the triangle defined by the three points. In use, therefore, any substantial pressure in that outboard area of the well 10 (as while carving meat, for example) will cause the platter to rock or tip. In the unusual event that ware embodying a foot constructed in accordance with this invention warps so badly as to provide a three-point or two-point support (as when the centers of both arcuate surfaces 14 would be high), the whole piece would normally be so warped as to cause rejection without regard to whether or not it rocked on its foot.

The spaced feet or pedestal ribs 14 provide an advantage other than that of eliminating the conventional grinding operation. It will be observed that, when the platter is in its normal, right-side-up position, as shown in the drawings, the depressions or relieved portions 13 of the foot become openings allowing air to circulate between the well 10 and the table surface beneath it. This minimizes the sweating commonly occurring when there is a substantial temperature difference between the ware and a flat surface on which it is placed and also facilitates the cooling of the table top area beneath the well when the ware is heated, thereby reducing the likelihood of marring a varnished table top, for example.

It is to be noted from the drawings that the ratio of the projected length of an arcuate rib 14 on the longitudinal center line of the platter to the length of the longitudinal center line is substantially greater than the ratio of the arcuate length of a space between the ribs 14 and the arcuate length of a rib. Thus, the non-rocking arcuate feet of ware made according to this invention, while substantially avoiding the possibility of rocking inherent in platters having an elliptical foot, afford a longitudinal support which is only negligibly shortened from that provided by a conventional elliptical foot, and the extent of lateral support is not decreased at all.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the embodiment herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A piece of ceramic dishware having an elliptical central well portion, an integral rim, and a pair of integral, arcuate rib feet of substantially equal and uniform height on the periphery of said well portion and adopted to support said dishware on and engage a planar horizontal surface, said arcuate rib feet being located symmetrically on opposite sides of the longitudinal areas of the elliptical well portion and having their ends spaced from each other, the arcuate lengths of the rib feet being substantially greated than the arcuate length of the spacing between the ends of opposite feet, whereby the ratio of the projected length of said foot ribs along said longitudinal center line included beneath said well area to the length of said center line is substantially greater than the arcuate length of the spacing to the arcuate length of the rib feet.

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 78,104 5/68 Lehmann 220- 151,246 5/74 Schreiber 22070 335,251 2/ 86 Sparrow 22070 1,978,175 10/34 Stalle 220-23.83 2,209,624 7/40 Jettery 25l56 2,490,049 12/49 Greger 25156 2,587,237 2/52 Sinaiko 22070 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,516 1908 Great Britain.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

EARLE J. DRUMMOND, Examiner. 

